


The Ala

by Wynkat



Series: All the little weres' asleep in their den [8]
Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Glam Rock RPF, Tommy Ratliff (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Kitsune, M/M, Magic, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-21
Updated: 2012-08-21
Packaged: 2017-11-12 15:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/492560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wynkat/pseuds/Wynkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: <i>“The hell?” Tommy pulled his hoodie up over his head and stared at the woman-creature-Ala-thing in the hallway. “It’s freaking hailing- inside!”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ala

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: @aislinntlc

Tommy ran from the buses to the back of the venue, his hoodie over his head, trying desperately to stay dry. It was fucking pointless. The clouds where thick and heavy, so dark they were almost black and damn near touching the ground. Rain drops the size of his thumb splashed down everywhere kicking up buckets of water and drenching him before he was half-way across the parking lot. It was one of the things he both loved and hated about the Midwest, the rain as warm as bathwater in the summertime but it was also all consuming, all soaking. It was great when you wanted to have fun but sucked on show days. 

To the left of the building, Tommy could see part of the winding line of Glamberts clutching brightly colored umbrellas. He shook his head and waved to the bunch of fans he could see flailing their arms toward him. He hid a grin; they were the sweetest ladies in the world, but flat out insane some of them. 

He put on a burst of speed to clear the last few yards to the venue’s back wall, wrenched open the door and ducked inside. 

“Here.” Someone tossed a towel at him. “You look like a drowned rat.”

Tommy peaked out through his wet hair. The speaker was one of the local humans hired on site to help with tech for the show. Tommy thought his name might be Bill, or Bob? He shook his head, not only were the days starting to blur together, but the bodies as well. 

“What’d you do, miss the armload of bright pink umbrellas Management had us stash in the bus lounges?”

Tommy shrugged and started trying to dry some of the water off of his pants. “Yeah well, it didn’t look so bad from inside.”

Bill-Bob laughed. “Dude, the windows are tinted.”

“Fuck you,” Tommy said with a grin. He tossed his soaking towel back at Bill-Bob. “Meet and Greet start up yet?” 

“A couple minutes ago. If you hurry you can catch the opening speech-.”

“Oh, right, ‘cause I haven't heard that a million times.”

“Whatever man.” Bill-Bob laughed and pointed deeper into the theater. “Your boss is expecting you. London’s with him.”

“Cool, thanks.”

The meet and greet was as easy to find as always: just follow the sound of cheering Glamberts to the Adam at the end of the rainbow. Tommy snickered. 

As he ducked past the worst of the crowds, Tommy noticed a young woman watching him. He’d mostly gotten used to that sort of thing but there was something different about her. Something about her eyes caught him and held his gaze. One corner of her mouth turned up in a smile, sweet yet not. She shifted a little, turning her body more towards him and her hair swung around her shoulders in a long, curling wave of black down past her waist. Pretty, very very pretty. 

Tommy took a step in her direction, his ears ringing with the sound of the rain battering the building’s roof. It was like the gray of the woman’s eyes, swirling with hidden music and meaning. 

Something slammed into him, a body colliding with his in the hallway.

Someone was talking to him from far away. 

He shook his head, trying to respond to the other person. 

The rain stopped. He blinked and the girl was gone.

“What?” Tommy said to the empty space where the woman had been. 

“Sorry man,” Terrence said slapping him on the shoulder. “You okay?”

“Hmm?” Tommy looked around, she wasn’t in the hall anywhere.

“Tommy?”

“What?” Tommy looked at Terrence, not really seeing him at first. “What?” he asked again, scrubbing a hand across his eyes. When he looked again, Terrence was solid and real in front of him. “Terrence.”

Terrence chuckled. “Yeah. Where were you just now?”

“There was this woman-“

“Oh ho! Tommy’s fan club has come out to play.”

“No. Not like that. She was different. There was something about her.” 

“There's always something about the pretty ones.” Terrance laughed. “Come on, you know how Adam gets. If he can't see you, or at least smell you, while he's working he’s gonna be impossible later.”

“Yeah, okay,” Tommy said. He looked back over his shoulder, checking one last time, and then waved Terrance down the hallway ahead of him. “Lead on.”

 

***

The meet and greet was over at last. Adam had been his usual charming self and hugged and posed with an endless line of people. It was fun to watch. Adam was at his best when he could be up front and personal with his fans or out in front on stage. And everyone just basked in his light and energy. It was great, until it wasn’t. 

Though he’d lived around humans all his life, Tommy’d always been isolated because of his kitsune blood. He’d been told often enough that he shouldn’t exist, that he was an abomination –Utgard, to believe anything else. Being part of the clan and Adam’s mate had changed that. Tommy finally felt like he belonged. But the clan, with a handful of exceptions, wasn’t human, it was pack. Were. Shifter. Magical. It was safe in a way being around humans would never be. 

There was always a point in these things when the sheer press of human bodies got to Tommy and made him want to scream. He’d start backing farther and farther away, find some corner of the room, or a room off the main area, to hide until Adam was done. Today there’d been no spare rooms and no place to run to that would let him get away from the overload of scents and bodies in the room without also pissing off Adam’s wolf. He’d had to grit his teeth and watch while fan after fan hugged Adam, touched him, kissed his cheek and rubbed their scent all over him. By the end of it, he’d given up on keeping his tails under his skin. He backed himself into a corner and let them wrap themselves around his waist in a restless clutch of amber and white fur. 

“You need a shower,” Tommy said. 

“No time. We need to get into costume.” Adam grinned. The smug bastard. 

“Shower now,” Tommy growled, pulling Adam toward him.

Adam’s grin blossomed into a smile. He leaned down, his lips hovering just over Tommy’s. “I love it when you get possessive and territorial on me. Makes me think my wolf is rubbing off on you.”

Tommy pressed up into Adam’s kiss, taking and giving and reclaiming Adam’s mouth. When the edge of his need was satisfied he pulled back. “I wish your wolf would rub one off on me. Hate not smelling like you. ”

“I think I can arrange that, baby.” Adam tucked Tommy against his side and turned them toward the exit and the buses. Tommy’s tails slipped up under Adam’s jacket to sweep across his chest and hold him close. Adam twitched when one of the tails brushed across a nipple but didn’t make any effort to push them away, for which Tommy was eternally grateful. He honestly wasn’t sure they’d listen to him at this point. 

“God I love my fans but these meet and greets are long.”

“Too long. Hate you smelling like them.” Tommy pressed his nose into Adams armpit and sniffed, tails squeezing tight around Adam’s waist. Adam chuckled and kissed the top of his head. Tommy growled. “Shut up, fucker, you do the same thing to me after signings.”

“Fuck yeah,” Adam sang out with a grin. 

A flash of light in a hallway to the right of them caught Tommy’s attention and set his nerves on edge. His ears pivoted, their wide triangle-shape perfect for catching stray sounds. He could hear doors closing nearby and the soft fall of footsteps. He strained to see through the shadows, tripping and tugging Adam around with him. 

“Easy, Babe. We have to get to the bus in one piece.”

Tommy nodded, but his focus was on the darkness flowing toward him. 

“Tommy?”

The dark clouds shifted, black melting into gray and then into deep blue, all of them whirling around a single form. As Tommy watched, the woman from the meet and greet materialized at the heart of the maelstrom. Her long black hair was swirling around her with a life of its own and her eyes were glowing with flashes of lightning. 

“Do you see her?” Tommy whispered to Adam.

“See wh-“ Adam stopped mid-sentence and gasped. “Holy shit.”

“She’s beautiful.” 

“She shouldn’t be here.”

“Hello, Thomas,” the woman said. She took a step forward, the cloud of shadows parting to let her pass. 

Adam growled and pushed Tommy behind him, his fingertips sharp with the first edge of claws. “Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?”

The woman smiled. “My name is Vasilka. I am the Ala of the North Mountains.” A rumble of thunder echoed her words. The shadow clouds roiled and spit out a shower of hail-stones, blanketing the floor in slush and ice. 

“The hell?” Tommy pulled his hoodie up over his head and stared at the woman-creature-Ala-thing in the hallway. “It’s freaking hailing- inside!”

“I noticed!” Adam shouted, his jacket pulled up to protect his head. “Where the hell is security?”

“This storm is only for you, Thomas.” She swept her arm out in a wide circle and the storm stopped abruptly, the last of the hail spilling to a stop on the floor around them. “A gift of my strength and commitment.”

“A gift? An indoor hail storm is a gift?” Tommy huffed. He tossed his hood back and brushed away the hail-stones that were clinging to his hair. “And it’s Tommy, dammit.”

The Ala dipped her head toward him. “Of course, Tommy. I bring to you the power of storms, of wind and water, of cold and darkness. I seek only your regard in return.”

“Um-“ Tommy stepped cautiously to Adam’s side, one hand on Adam’s arm. Whether he was leaving it there to reassure himself or Adam, he didn’t know and didn’t really care, it felt good. “Why would I wa- need your powers?”

“An alliance between us would strengthen both our families.”

Adam stiffened, a snarl rumbling in his chest. Tommy gripped his arm tighter. 

“An alliance?”

The Ala nodded.

“I appreciate the offer,” Tommy said slowly. There were warning bells going off in his head, memos flashing about the danger of pissing off magical creatures with stupid replies. He swallowed the snarky remark that was on the tip of his tongue and pretended he was Adam in front of a wall of press. “I bet it’d be a good thing to have friends who can call up storms.”

“Remember me when the Choosing comes. I can help you, Tommy, I promise. I can secure your place.”

“Ok-ay.” Tommy looked over at Adam who shrugged. Yeah, neither of them knew what the fuck was going on. Great. “You know, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

There was the sound of pounding- flesh on metal, and voices in the distance. Tommy’s ears flicked toward the noise and he thought he could hear someone calling their names. The Ala looked behind her, nodded and looked back at Tommy and Adam. 

“This storm must pass.” She curled her hand over and then twisted it back up. In the middle of her palm was a snowflake, about the size of Tommy’s thumb. She turned her hand over once again. The snowflake fell from her hand and stopped in midair suspended by a length of silver chain. “Remember me when other’s make their offers.”

Tommy stared at the necklace. It was beautiful but he wasn’t sure he wanted anything to do with it. Lightening flashed, whiting out his vision for a moment. When he could see again, the Ala was gone and the necklace was falling toward the floor. He grabbed it without thinking. 

“Shit,” he said, staring at the snowflake as it spun on its chain. 

Terrance, Brian and two of venue security guards, both local ‘weres with more brawn than brains from the look of them, ran into the hallway and through the melting hail. They skidded to an awkward stop in front of Adam and Tommy. 

“Are you guys alright?” Brian asked.

Adam stroked a hand over Tommy’s cheek, down his neck to his shoulder, then pulled him close to sniff his hair. Tommy felt him nod.

“Yeah,” Tommy mumbled, not minding being crushed against Adam’s chest in the least. “We’re okay.” Tommy pressed his nose into Adam’s shirt and held on. 

Between them, the snowflake was cold and sharp and humming with the sound of the storm.


End file.
